Detroit — Those passing by a Detroit art park on Thursday got an unexpected sight: a completely nude, 43-foot tall sculpture of the 45th President Donald Trump.
A steady stream of drivers, bikers, and passersby stopped at the Lincoln Street Art Park on Lincoln Street to gawk, pose for pictures, and Facetime others to show them the effigy of Trump in the buff. The installation — titled “Crooked and Obscene,” according to other media outlets — was installed on Wednesday and has two security officers guarding it, as well as a metal fence surrounding it, for 24 hours a day.
The guards said they had been hired anonymously and didn’t know who the mystery artist was.
The sculpture is reportedly made of styrofoam and chicken wire and will remain on display until Friday, the security guards said. It is held up by a large crane and the former president is posed with his hands outstretched in front of him.
A spokesperson for the Michigan Republican party couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the installation Thursday.
David Manderfield lives just down the street from the Lincoln Street Art Park and saw the sculpture pop up in other cities around the country on social media. Other news outlets have reported the statue in Las Vegas and Phoenix this month.
“It’s quite obscene, it’s him in all his glory if you want to call it that,” Manderfield, 34, said. “It’s quite the spectacle.”
Even for Lincoln Art Park, a sculpture garden and outdoor gallery, the Trump sculpture stands out.
“There’s always wild art, but not anything quite like this that’s for sure,” Manderfield said.
Detroiter Joey Murphy, 24, was “shocked, to say the least,” upon seeing the effigy.
“It is quite the sight to see,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter who you are or where you stand politically, I think it is just a hilarious piece to find in the city, and I think it’s very on-brand with Detroit.”
Murphy interpreted the sculpture as a comedic piece and a “very raw picture” of the former president.
“I’ve kind of been feeling like this is what Donald Trump wants us to think of him as this, like, big guy who’s looking over you,” Murphy said. “But to see him naked… kind of, like, humbles him in a way.”
Several people stopped by on lunch breaks or while walking their dogs Thursday afternoon, having already heard about the sculpture on social media, to see it in person. Lindsay Gorman, of Detroit, stopped to see the “spectacle” on her way home from a workout class.
“Nothing really surprises me anymore, in general in life, so this is just like — it makes sense,” Gorman, 36, said. “It’s a talking point, right? People are talking about it regardless of who you’re for. It’s just, it’s a stunt.”
Danny Myerscough, 26, is a photojournalism student from Dearborn and drove to Detroit to get pictures of the exhibit. She was shocked by the scale.
“I think it’s really interesting to have it here because obviously Michigan has become really a focal in the nationwide conversation about the election,” Myerscough said. “I think it makes a statement to put it in Detroit.”
Trump spoke Thursday to the Detroit Economic Club at the MotorCity Casino Hotel, just two miles from the Lincoln Street Art Park.
